“Did you imagine kissing me that night?” I continued kissing him, feeling the sweep of his tongue exploring, driving my insatiable need for him to new heights. “Did you imagine taking me home?” I whispered in his ear. “Taking me to bed—”
“Charli.” My growled name was a warning, but if I couldn’t make him see what he’d missed then he may never realize what he had now. Right in front of him. I was the girl he wanted then. I was clearly still the one he wanted. So why couldn’t we find a way to make this happen?
“Tell me,” I said, letting my gaze roam his face. He was tense, obviously tired of being teased and ready to seal the deal. But I needed to know what I was agreeing to first. Sex… or something more? “Tell me you never thought of me again. That you never got off thinking about me.” ‘Cause he sure as hell had fueled my fantasies more times than I could count.
I squealed when he finally flipped me over, pinning me with his body.
“You wanna know if I thought of you?” He kissed my neck before dipping lower for a taste of my nipples. He sucked hard, then softer, moaning in pleasure. “Scanned the front rows of every concert I’ve played since then, hoping you’d be there again.”
My body thrummed with pleasure at his admission. I hadn’t been just a pretty face in the crowd to this man. He hadn’t forgotten about me minutes after seeing me. He’d wanted me. Looked for me. Hoped for one more chance… with me. It was surreal, knowing I’d had that effect on him. Even more surreal to feel the effect I was having on him now.
I got my answer. This wasn’t just sex. Dade cared about me, in a way that was foreign to me. I felt it in his touch, in the words he said and didn’t say. I saw it in the way he looked at me. Like he couldn’t believe I was there, in his arms, tasting his kiss, ready to give myself to him, in every way.
“I’m here now,” I whispered, reaching for his face. “Tell me now what you would have told me then, Dade.” When he hesitated, I said, “I need to hear it.”
“You’re beautiful,” he said finally, touching his forehead to mine. “So beautiful. But it’s more than that, Charli. I can’t explain it, the way I feel when I look at you. I just know it’s like nothing I’ve felt before.” He fisted my hair in his hands, tugging. “It’s frustrating as hell, if you wanna know the truth. ‘Cause I feel like I can’t control it. And I’m used to controlling everything.”
I smiled at his admission. “Maybe you’re not meant to control this. Maybe you’re just supposed to go with it? Give into it.” I kissed him, loving that I had the right to. “Give in tome. Quit fighting this.”
His eyes searched mine, like he was battling with my proposal, wondering if it could be that easy to surrender, in light of his past.
“It doesn’t have to be hard,” I said, knowing I was reading his mind. “I’m not your exes. And you’re not mine.”
His eyes narrowed before he lowered his head, claiming my mouth in a hard, possessive kiss. “You better believe I’m not your exes. I’m not stupid enough to treat you the way they did.” His mouth grazed my jaw before his lips nipped my earlobe. “I would never take advantage of you. I’ll worship you. Give you every damn thing you never even knew you wanted or needed.”
His vow made me tremble because I knew he had the power to deliver, but the only thing I really wanted or needed was right here in this bed with me. Him. “I just don’t want us to throw this away, not when we’re finally getting a shot.” I ran my hand over the scruff on his jaw. “That’s something I’ve been fantasizing about for a long time. A shot with you.” Admitting that made me vulnerable, but I didn’t feel weak. I felt stronger for finally speaking my truth and giving him a glimpse into my heart.
“Me too.” He closed his eyes, curling his arms under my body so he was holding me close. “When Knox showed me that picture of you and I found out you were Cece’s sister, I wondered if fate might play a hand in our lives after all.”
I smiled, curling my legs around his waist. He was still ready and so was I. All this talking hadn’t diminished our desire for each other. If anything, I was even more fired up now because I knew our connection was deeper than the physical.
“Fate, huh?” My smile widened. “I like knowing that you think this might’ve been fate.”
“How else would you describe it? It’s crazy that we’re here, right?”
“So crazy.” My lips landed on his before I said, “And so right.”
He nodded before his look told me it wasgame time. Time to solidify the bond we’d started building even before we knew we’d end up here eventually, wrapped up in each other’s arms, sharing our fears and secrets, speculating about things we had no way of knowing for sure.
He breached me slowly, licking his lips while his eyes wandered over my face, like he was trying to memorize it.
I was falling in love with him. It was scary as hell to admit, even to myself, since it had been so long since those words had fallen from my lips. But it was true, and I didn’t want to hide from it. I knew Dade wasn’t ready to hear it, or face how real this was getting for me, so I got lost in the physical sensations sweeping through my body, saving the emotional to unpack and analyze another time.
The pinch of pain gave way to pleasure as I enveloped him, locking my arms around his neck while we both adjusted to the intensity. Every time he filled me, I got the overwhelming sense that this was it. He wasthe one. It felt like his body was made for mine. And making love to him heightened the growing intimacy until it felt like I was getting lost in him.
The build-up, as his eyes locked on mine, trapped the breath in my throat. He was saying with his body, his eyes, what he was too afraid to say with words. He was falling for me too. I could feel it. Every time he grimaced when I gripped him, rubbing me sensually while trying to hold back because he cared more about my pleasure than his own, told me he was willing to put me first.
His pace fuelled my helpless whimpers as he unleashed his repressed frustration at a situation he couldn’t control. His hands dug into my hips as the heat flushed my skin, twisting my hands into the sheets as I tried to suppress cries no one else could hear.
His tempo was demanding and relentless, forcing my surrender as my body clenched, trying to resist the blast that would eventually result in a full-blown eruption.
“Let go for me.” His handsome face was drawn with lines of tension as he fought his body for control of his release. “Damn it, Charli…” He dropped his head, sucking in a breath as he stilled. “I need this.”
I need this.
Those words reverberated through my brain as I felt the uncoiling, followed by a burst that resulted in a hot and trembling rush. That drew a groan from him as I clenched him harder, bathing his shaft in my arousal as he stroked me to a stupefying end.
He took a minute to breathe as he brushed my hair off my face. His kiss was sweet and tender and if I could have communicated with him telepathically, I would have shouted, “Just say it,” because I knew he was feeling it too. He had to be. I couldn’t be the only one trapped in this twister of terror and elation.
